Forwards Carter Camper, Brent Gallant, Miles Koules and Bobby MacIntyre, defenseman Scott Savage, and goaltenders Brad Thiessen and Ivan Kulbakov were released from training camp tryouts. Many of these players have AHL contracts in place, meaning they’ll report directly to Cleveland.

The Monsters open training camp Thursday in Cleveland.

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said five or six more players would be cut after the game tonight against the St. Louis Blues in Nationwide Arena.

With the post-practice cuts, the Blue Jackets have 36 players in camp — 23 forwards, 11 defensemen and two goaltenders.

That includes injured forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner and absent right winger Josh Anderson, who has yet to agree to terms on a new contract and has not reported to camp.

NOTEBOOK

Scary moment in practice this morning. Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky went into a corner to battle for a puck during a drill and came out wincing and shaking his right wrist, which was surgically repaired over the summer. Not to worry. Dubinsky took a quick massage on the wrist by a trainer over by the bench and was back for his next shift.

Dubinsky said the wrist had bothered him for “over two years” when he finally went under the knife in late May. Basically, it had been bent awkwardly and hyperextended so many times that ligaments were stretched. “It got really bad toward the second half of last year. Real bad,” Dubinsky said. “It’s something I couldn’t put off any more. People ask, “Why did you wait this summer?” It’s because I was hopeful it would get better. Wrist surgeries are tough. They’re tough to recover from, because it’s tough to get your range back. But it wasn’t getting better, so I had to do something.”

Other NHL players who have had a similar surgery to the one Dubinsky had in May: Vancouver’s Markus Granlund and Eric Gudbranson, and Montreal’s Paul Byron. Dubinsky said he spoke with some or all of the players before he decided who would do the surgery. “I did my homework,” Dubinsky said.

The hope is that Dubinsky will play in at least one preseason game and be ready to start the regular season on Oct. 6 vs. the New York Islanders. Key word: hope. “We’ll see,” he said. “I’m day to day. I know that’s not the answer you’re looking for, but that’s how I have to look at it, because there will be good days and bad days. It’s getting better. It’s a LOT better than it was before camp started.”

Good question: Will Dubinsky step right into the face-off circle upon his return? Seems doubtful. So who takes this club’s big draws?

Tortorella wants Dubinsky to play in a preseason game to “get over the mental block,” but said it will be left up to Dubinsky. Even so, he’s been glad to have him back in practice the last few days: “Dubi … him and Vinny Prospal are two of the best practice players I’ve ever seen. Dubi does it in the games, too, he drags guys into the fight. He’s front and center in the effort he brings. It’s part of our identity. I see him getting better and better, more confident (with the wrist) in all the things he’s doing. We need him. We need him to be the pain in the ass during our practices, just to hear him out there when we go through drills.”

G Joonas Korpisalo will start tonight vs. the Blues. The plan is for him to play the entire game with Sergei Bobrovsky his back-up. Bobrovsky will start and play the entire game in Nashville.

The projected lines for tonight, per the club’s web site:

F1: Sonny Milano – Calvin Thurkauf – Vitaly Abramov

F2: Pierre-Luc Dubois – Lukas Sedlak – Oliver Bjorkstrand

F3: Matt Calvert – Justin Scott – Tyler Motte

F4: Markus Hannikainen – John Mitchell – Nick Moutrey

D1: Ryan Murray – David Savard

D2: Dean Kukan – Markus Nutivaara

D3: Scott Harrington – Gabriel Carlsson

Top photo credit: Kevin Sousa/Getty Images

Read more quality sports coverage with a free 7-day trial

If you enjoyed this article, start a free trial today to get full access to all the smart, in-depth coverage on The Athletic, then get 25% off the annual plan.

Aaron Portzline covers the Columbus Blue Jackets and is a senior writer for The Athletic Columbus. He's been a sportswriter for more than 30 years, winning national and state awards as a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. In addition, Aaron has been a frequent contributor to the NHL Network and The Hockey News among other outlets. Follow Aaron on Twitter @Aportzline.